Are employees at your office asking for seed oil-free snacks? If they are, Artisan Tropic could be a great choice for your break room! The Hispanic-owned family business makes its chips in Colombia from farm-fresh cassava (a root vegetable) and plantains (a tropical fruit). It fries the chips in local Colombian palm oil. The FruitGuys recently teamed up with Artisan
When The FruitGuys called farmer Jeff Ferrari of Ferrari Farms to check in on his cherry crop, he was praying for dry weather. He told us that in the final days before picking, a drizzle can wreak havoc on an organic cherry farm. “The rain causes the cherries to crack,” Jeff explained. “This last weekend we did get some rain,
Since 2013, The FruitGuys Community Fund has given out annual grants of $5,000 or less to small farms and agricultural nonprofits across the country. That first year, we awarded five sustainable farming grants. This year, I’m proud to announce that we’re awarding twenty-one across seventeen states! Each farm will use its grant for a sustainability project. This Year’s Sustainability Projects
When The FruitGuys called farmer Vernon Peterson in late March to talk about organic apricots, he picked up the phone from the middle of his nectarine orchard. His smiling face filled up the video call’s screen, and behind him, we saw a sea of green. “These are our cover crops,” he said, gesturing proudly to what looked like long grasses
“Try this one, it’s the best,” micro farmer Byron Nkhoma says, bending down and plucking a few leaves from an arugula plant. He hands them out for our little group to taste. The leaves are peppery—just as I expected—but somehow creamier than other arugula I’ve tried. Byron says it’s because they come from an older plant. Continuing through his farm
“So, a social worker, a farmer, an engineer, and a salesman walk into a bar…” That sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but if you swap the word “farm” in for “bar,” it’s pretty close to the story of how Abby Schilling purchased Mick Klüg Farms from her father, Mick Klüg, seven years ago. From Farmer to Social
Stepping out of the car and onto the soil of JSM Organics in Royal Oaks, California, felt like setting foot in an orderly kind of paradise. Spring sunshine swept over the strawberry fields and highlighted workers harvesting berries in bright red and yellow shirts. Everywhere I looked, my eyes met green plants or vibrantly blue sky. I arrived at JSM
Every winter, FruitGuys Senior Buyer and Chief Fruit Detective Rebecca North counts down the days to the EcoFarm Conference. The event hosted by the non-profit Ecological Farming Association brings together farmers, educators, scientists, and more for four days of workshops, farm tours, and presentations. This year, EcoFarm 2024 popped up in Pacific Grove, CA, and ran from Jan. 16–20. “More
In 2023, The FruitGuys Community Fund (TFGCF) awarded its largest class of farm grantees so far: 18 small-scale farms and agricultural non-profits were awarded a total of $83,757 in grant awards for projects impacting water conservation, energy efficiency, biodiversity, pollination, seed preservation, and ecological land management. The majority of small farm grant funds were directed to farmers of color, LGBTQ
It can be tough to get a farmer on the phone during their busiest season. But when The FruitGuys called Vince Bernard of Bernard Ranch to check in on how his family farm in Riverside, CA, was doing, he was happy to chat about everything from his specialty citrus crops to his farm’s continued recovery from the pandemic. “The Kishu
The struggle and beauty of fruit, its cultivation and care, is a dance of regenerative-impermanence. As we approach Earth Day, I find myself fascinated with the idea that the earth itself gives us fruit, something that sustains and pleases us in the moment, that also acts as a distributor of seeds for future growth. The life cycle for all fruit
Balance feels like something we need these days. Between wild weather (in California at least) and banking instability, finding balance for farmers, and the ag industry in general has been a bit of a high-wire act as of late. The business of farming is naturally fraught with uncertainty. Our produce is living plants that are at the whims of the
The FruitGuys Community Fund, a nonprofit fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, will award small American farms and agricultural nonprofits a total of $35,643 in 2015 for sustainability projects intended to have a positive impact on the environment, local food systems, and farm diversity. More than 70 applicants from all over the country applied for the 2015 grants. The eight
In the Community Fund’s first year of operation, we gave nearly $20,000 in grants to five farms and agricultural nonprofits in California and Pennsylvania. Here are some updates on how their projects went. 2013 Grantees New Family Farm in Sebastopol, CA; Red Heart Ranch in Finley, CA; Snipes Family Farm & Education Center in Morrisville, PA; SAGE Ag-Park in Sunol,
At 4,000 feet, the Willcox area in Northern Cochise County, AZ, was known as the “Cattle Capital” in the Old West days. Situated near Dos Cabezas Mountains, Willcox is now a major producer of diverse agriculture, including some of Arizona’s best-tasting apples. Valley Farms has grown heritage apples for Arizona markets since 1978 under the Desert Sweet brand. In
New Family Farm of Sebastopol, California, was one of six farms awarded grants in April 2013 from The FruitGuys Community Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives. An outgrowth of the company’s Farm Steward Program, the Community Fund gives resources to small farms for sustainable agriculture projects that contribute to environmental and economic health. As the song says, everything
By Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm, courtesy of Capay Valley Farm Shop Despite heavy rain, a surprisingly large group of people turned out for the Full Belly Open Farm Day. While we couldn’t sample the strawberries as in years past, we were able to walk around and enjoy the muddy farm. Several families showed up with three generations present.
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